Arrowhead's ode to friendly fire Helldivers 2 has led to a bit of a Starship Troopers renaissance, with players discovering or rediscovering Paul Verhoeven's 1997 movie based on Robert A. Heinlein's sci-fi novel. Casper Van Dien, who played football star turned space marine Johnny Rico in Starship Troopers, responded by suggesting a crossover movie on Twitter.
While that's unlikely, the Helldivers 2 trailers—which have certainly hit on a, shall we say, rather similar tone—have seen players suggest that Arrowhead should make a commercial for the game featuring either Van Dien or one of his co-stars, like Neil Patrick Harris. Van Dien liked the idea enough to reply with a vibrating gif of himself as Johnny Rico that said, "DESIRE TO KNOW MORE INTENSIFIES."
Van Dien has since deleted the tweet, although whether that suggests he has been sworn to secrecy about a collaboration with Arrowhead that is actually in the works, or just felt a bit embarrassed about tweeting a reaction gif like a boomer, is impossible to say. The actor has certainly been very pro-Helldivers in other tweets, reposting news about the game and declaring, "The only good bug is a dead bug!"
That latest tweet came in response to rumors about the new flying terminids players have been sharing videos of, which Arrowhead's CEO officially responded to by refuting the claims while declaring that the Ministry of Truth agreed this was all definitely pro-bug propaganda. Which, as far as satires of fascism go, is unsubtle enough to feel right at home in a Paul Verhoeven movie.
